Prime Minister Scott Morrison has insisted his government is “putting the reef first”, despite backlash a billion-dollar investment in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef isn’t doing enough to save it from climate change.
The Federal Government has pledged $1 billion to protect the Great Barrier Reef as it moves to bolster its climate credentials in the lead-up to the federal election.
The Government hopes the money will help protect thousands of jobs and billions in tourism money attached to the reef economy.
Despite the reef narrowly avoiding being listed on UNESCO’s danger list last year, Mr Morrison on Friday insisted Australia was a “world leader” in the management of the Great Barrier Reef.
“This is a big investment; it’s the investment that is needed for us to be doing as a Government to ensure that we’re putting the reef first,” he said.
“Because when you do that, everybody else benefits and that’s what we're seeing as a result of this package.”
More than half of the money will go towards improving water quality, including reducing nutrient and pesticide run-off, with more money to be funnelled into the broader management of the reef as well as research.
The money equates to around $100 million each year over nine years in a bid to ensure the resilience of the reef.
The government has been under increasing pressure to do more to protect the reef, after UNESCO last year warned it intended on listing the reef as “in danger”.
While it managed to dodge that listing, UNESCO is still monitoring the situation, with the government having to produce a report detailing the state of the reef, and how it plans to protect it moving forward.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the report was on track, and the money announced on Friday would go towards protecting the reef moving forward.
“The biggest ever investment in any reef internationally is going to set us up, help us build the most healthy, resilient reef in the face of climate change and the other challenges,” she said.
But the announcement hasn’txjmtzyw been well received by some, with scientists and environment activists saying more needs to be done to protect the reef, including the phasing out of coal.
Some scientists said the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef was climate change and have pushed for more rigorous climate policy to address the issue.
Shadow Environment Minister, Terri Butler, claimed the government was failing to act.
“The fact is this is a government that is desperately trying to scramble in relation to the reef after a decade of mismanagement,” she said.
“(They are) desperately trying to scramble for a forthcoming election and also for a forthcoming UNESCO consideration of whether to add the reef to the world heritage in danger list.”
